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Monday, February 20, 2017

Chickpeas in Turmeric, Coconut and Banana Sauce

Ripe bananas and onions. Those are the winning ingredients for this month's Crazy Ingredient Challenge. Bananas and onions. What in the world does one do with ripe bananas and onions? I had to ask Google and some other friends.

Caramelizing onions seemed like a great way to go but that would mean spending 45 minutes babysitting onions. I just don't have the attention span for that. As I searched some more, I came across recipes for curried bananas. Curried bananas? How's that even a thing? And why was I itching to test it out?

I have been craving curried chickpeas for a while so I thought I'd add the bananas to my chickpeas. I could have just sliced the bananas and tossed them in but that didn't feel like I was fully committing to a savoury banana dish. I could just pick the bananas out. I decided to blend the bananas into the coconut milk. Coconut milk is slightly sweet so I figured the sweet banana wouldn't be too far off. It wasn't! Surprisingly. Just don't add too mucch banana. I tried first with two small bananas and it was way too sweet. One is definitely better. It's subtle and hence not the dominant flavour. You can start with half a banana in the coconut milk and taste the mixture to make sure it's not too sweet for you.

Blend the banana and coconut milk and set aside.Heat the oil in a pan over medium heat. Add the chopped onions and cook until softened and translucent. Stir occasionally.Add the garlic, turmeric, salt, and pepper. Cook while stirring for a minute then stir in the carrots and chickpeas.Pour in the coconut milk mixture.Cover and simmer until the sauce has thickened. Taste and adjust seasonings as necessary.